Suspect in hookah lounge stabbing held without bail

Nara Lounge, a Federal Hill hookah bar. Providence Police said a man was stabbed to death inside the club late on the night of Wednesday October 2, 2019. Photo by Steve Klamkin WPRO News

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – A purported member of the Almighty Latin Kings gang has been held without bail after pleading not guilty to murder in the stabbing death a man at a Rhode Island hookah lounge.

Joel Francisco faces a first-degree murder charge in the death Oct. 2 of Troy Pine at the Nara Lounge in Providence’s Federal Hill neighborhood.

The 41-year-old Francisco was referred to the public defender’s office Monday.

Prosecutors say Francisco stabbed Pine following a confrontation.

He fled the state and was arrested by federal marshals on Oct. 19 in New Braunfels, Texas, as he allegedly tried to make it to Mexico.

 

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